


I think I got myself in trouble

by Strength_in_pain



Series: Comforting Peter Parker because he deserves love [11]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Gen, Happy Hogan Tries, Happy Hogan is a Good Bro, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Has a Bad Day, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Happy Hogan, Sad Peter Parker, Stubborn Peter Parker, Stubborn Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Uncle Happy Hogan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:21:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: Tony and Peter were always seeing things from different perspectives. It’s what usually made them a great team on the field, but a horrible team when they get into personal disputes. Somehow Happy gets caught in the middle of another Tony and Peter fight.ORTony scolds Peter without listening to his side of the story, and Happy ends up comforting the kid.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comforting Peter Parker because he deserves love [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698844
Comments: 14
Kudos: 317





	I think I got myself in trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiiiii everyone! 
> 
> Finally got one posted today. Poor Peter and Tony... they’re both too stubborn for their own good. My only warning to this story is IronDad and SpiderSon argue. But Uncle Happy is the mediator because he knows how to handle Tony. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Come on. One game.” 

Pepper tossed her car keys on the glass coffee table and grabbed a clipboard, carrying it with her as she wondered towards the elevator.

“Happy, I don’t have time to play chess.” She said, waiting for the button to light up. 

“Oh, so you’re scared of losing, is that it?” 

“No.” She grinned, hugging the clipboard to her chest. 

Happy went to press the elevator button for her again, but jumped in surprise when the doors opened without being provoked.

Two people were behind the metal doors, standing as far apart from one another as possible. 

As soon as the doors were fully open, Peter hustled out in a sprint, nearly running to the guest bedroom, which was basically his bedroom, since Peter spent every weekend at the compound helping Tony with work.

Speaking of Tony, he exited the elevator next, chasing after Peter in long angry strides. 

“Oh good, Tony, you’re back.” Pepper said, clicking her heels after the man. “I need you to look at this list and tell me -“

“Get your sorry butt back here.” He shouted in the direction of the kid, pointing to the spot in front of him. “Oh God, listen to me. I sound like my father.“ He mumbled the last part under his breath. 

Happy watched as Pepper did a double take, and Peter spun around on the balls of his feet, hands shooting to the ceiling. That overdramatic gesture wasn’t good, Happy thought. Not good at all. 

“Oh really? You want me to come over there, now? Are you sure? Because ten seconds ago you told me to go to my room. So are you absolutely sure, or are you going senile already?” 

Oh no. That really wasn’t good. 

Over the past several months of Happy being a personal chauffeur for the spider-teen, he had gotten to know Peter well enough to know that this behavior was not normal. Especially towards Tony Stark. Peter thought the world of Tony. Showing any amount disrespect, especially like the kind he just showed, would have horrified the Peter Happy thought he knew. Something must have went down today, and this time it wasn’t just the stock market. 

“Yeah, well, I got a second wind.” Tony replied, snapping his fingers at the spot in front of him. Peter puffed out his cheeks in exasperation and clenched his jaw tightly. 

“I already told you I’m sorry, so you can stop yelling.” He said. 

“You need to be yelled at!” Tony roared, getting the reaction he wanted when Peter flinched back. The whole room went dead silent for a moment, similar to how silence follows an explosion of fireworks. The only exception was the ticking of a clock and Peter’s quiet breathing.

Happy wasn’t sure if he should break up the silence or not. It felt awkward, the whole situation. But to intervene might make one side very angry. Luckily for Happy, Pepper decided to speak first. 

“What happened?” She asked, looking between both boys.

“That’s what I would like to know.” Tony said, placing his hands on his hips. 

“Mr. Stark won’t listen to me.” Peter responded meekly, looking to Pepper for help.

“I believe that,” She mumbled, throwing her hands up in surrender when her husband turned his death glare on her. “Sorry.” 

Happy wanted to diffuse the situation before Tony said something he was going to regret. After all the years of working for Tony, and more importantly, befriending Tony, Happy had learned that his friend had a way with words when his temper was flaring. In other words, Tony would often say stuff that was beyond hurtful. He never meant to cause serious harm, that much Happy was sure of, but it still hurt nonetheless. Tony has made up for every hurtful word with a gesture that was above and beyond necessary to everyone he had ever wronged, but still, Happy wanted to avoid the after affects of an argument if at all possible. 

“Hey, why don’t we all just calm down and talk this out over dinner?” He suggested. 

“Great idea,” Pepper agreed. “I made Prime Rib.”

“That’s another thing,” Tony pointed a finger towards Peter, “You can forget about dinner tonight.”

“Tony,” Pepper scolded, slapping the clipboard against his chest. 

“Dear, don’t start with me. You have no idea what this kid has done over the past eight hours.” 

“It’s not even that bad.” Peter yelled. He glanced at his angry mentor, lip caught between his teeth, feeling guilty for the sudden outburst. 

“Not that bad?” Tony nearly shrieked, “The fact that you think it’s not that bad is exactly why you are not getting dinner tonight young man.” Startled at his own words, he turned to Pepper and Happy, “Did I just say, ‘young man?’” He asked and he received two nods in return. 

“I’m just saying, you make it sound like I killed someone or something.” Peter said, voice angry, but Happy could hear the hurt too. 

“Get over here.” Tony pointed to the spot in front of him. “I don’t like repeating myself and I know I told you five minutes ago to come here.”

Peter hesitated, shifting on his feet. “Why can’t I just go to my room.”

“Cause I said so.”

“That’s not a good reason.”

“Get. Over. Here.”

“You said I could go to my room earlier.” Peter tried. 

“If I have to repeat myself one more time, I’m coming over to you, and you won’t like it.” Tony threatened. 

Peter felt his throat close. He never really feared Stark, but right now it seemed like he did. Hesitantly, Peter took a few cautious steps towards the taller man as if he were made of flames. 

When he realized Tony wasn’t going to move, or make any attempt to snag his wrists, Peter stood at the spot directly in front of him, just like he wanted. 

“Good. Now give me the web shooters.”

“W-What?” Peter’s stomach lurched. “No! They’re mine.“

“Right now, or I swear I will punish you in a far worse way.” Tony threatened, towering over Peter ominously. 

_That was new_ , Happy thought. _What the hell was Tony thinking?_

Peter looked down at his hands, feeling lost. But apparently he didn’t want to push things so he snapped off his webshooters and slapped them in Stark’s hands. Happy could have swore he saw a pout on the kid’s face. 

“You want to travel to another state while you’re supposed to be in school, fine. Let’s see how far you get without these.”

“You’re not even listening to me!” Peter shouted, more angry now. “You never listen!”

“What could you possibly say for yourself?” Tony retorted just as venomously, “You broke three of my rules. Three! I trusted you, kid. After everything that’s happened in the past, I thought you were better than this. I told you, I was wrong about you. But now I’m starting to doubt myself again. Maybe I was right. Maybe you can’t handle this yet.”

Tears flooded Peter’s eyes. Tony’s words stung worse than a taking a beating from some thugs, and Spider-Man’s had some bad beatings. 

“Don’t yell at me.” He whimpered, hands going to his ears. 

“Is that all you care about? Me yelling? After I just got done saying how much you broke my trust. You might not be ready for this if your going to cry over being scolded like a little kid.”

“Stop,” Peter said, wiping furiously at his eyes, trying to will the building up of tears away. “You’re just not listening to me, and it’s frustrating.” 

“You want to explain yourself? Great. You’ll have plenty of time to do that too because you’re going to march yourself upstairs into your room and write an essay on why you ditched school, left the city, _and_ hacked into my suit. Again! I gotta give you credit, Pete. You’re smart. Most people couldn’t crack my codes in one day, but you apparently can do it in an hour. Be sure to mention that in your essay. In fact, dedicate a nice long paragraph to how and why you thought that was a good idea.”

Peter clenched his fists at his side. “You’re kidding?”

“No. I’m dead serious. Does this look like a kidding face to you?”

Happy had to bite the corner of his lip to keep from laughing, because this definitely was not a laughing matter, but Tony was purposely wearing a straight face, which made him look strange and anything but serious.

“I - I didn’t - it was - ughhhh.” Peter growled, throwing his hands in his hair and tossing his head back to the ceiling. He started tugging at the chestnut strands, and Happy swore he was going to rip them all out. “You are so -“

“Before you insult me I’m already visualizing duck tape over your mouth,” Tony said in the same snarky tone he uses on everyone. 

“- so infuriating!” Peter finished with a glare. 

“That brings me to the last thing,” Tony said, taking his sunglasses off and putting them on the neck of his shirt. “You’re going to go to your room, take that suit off and leave it outside the door.”

Peter had to blink back fresh tears at that one. Mr. Stark wanted to take his Spider-Man suit again. He felt like he was being crushed by the weight of worlds. “No no no, Mr. Stark, no.” 

“Yes, Spider-Man is grounded.”

A single tear slid down Peter’s face. “I hate you.” He declared, bitterly, licking the salty tear as it ran past his lips. 

“Yeah? Well I’m not too fond of you right now either. Do you have any idea how hurt I am that you completely broke our agreement? You promised me you wouldn’t hack the suit ever again. You completely destroyed my trust. I sure hope it was worth it.”

Well damn. Those were the kind of words that Happy was worried about his friend saying. The regrettable ones. The words Peter will always remember even when Tony starts to forget. Happy had to stop this before more hurtful words were said, or before Peter lost his resolve. Already, his lower lip wobbled as he stood trying to think of a comeback. Happy placed himself directly between the two. 

“Okay, that’s enough.”

As soon as Happy was between them, Peter saw it as an escape and ran to his room. Tony tried to follow, but Happy was blocking him, holding his shoulder as his friend shouted into the direction that Peter disappeared. 

“Don’t even think about leaving that room for any reason! If your suit isn’t outside in -“

“Tony stop!” Happy said again, shaking his friend’s shoulders. “The kid’s in his room. It’s all good.”

Shoving Happy’s hands off of him, Tony straightened his suit jacket. He ran a bruised hand over his tired face. 

“Okay, Happy. Okay. I want you outside the kid’s room. Keep an eye on him at all times.”

“Tony -“

“No. He broke my trust. He needs a full time babysitter and since you want to question my methods in front of the kid, why don’t you babysit the kid.”

“You’re angry, and you need to calm down. You already said some extremely hurtful stuff.” Happy stated as Pepper grabbed his arm.

“Come on. Let’s eat dinner and we can cool off, okay?” She insisted. 

Tony sighed, and let Pepper lead him into the kitchen area where the table was already set for three. 

“Watch the kid.” He ordered from the other room, before sitting down at the table. Happy saluted. 

“Got it, Boss.”

He made his way to the kid’s room, jiggling the door handle before bursting inside. He realized a second too late that he probably should have knocked because Peter was 

halfway out of his suit when he jumped out of his skin at the sudden intrusion. 

For a moment he was wide-eyed and panicked, like he was caught doing something illegal.

“Happy!” He breathed a sigh of relief. He was probably expecting Tony. “A little privacy, man?” 

Biting the urge to scoff or roll his eyes, Happy averted his gaze to the floor. It’s not like he hasn’t seen the kid without a shirt. He is the one who stitched practically every wound on Peter’s body after his incident with the Spider-Slayer robots. Long story. But Spider-Man was so cut up afterwards, Happy was surprised he handled the stitching as well as he did considering he needed about thirty-two on his chest alone. Despite seeing him shirtless on many occasions, Peter was just a teenager, so Happy tried to remind himself to start knocking. 

“Sorry but I’m supposed to watch you.” He explained, “So I’ll just be standing here by the door. Carry on.”

“Seriously?” Peter asked, more tears spilling over. “He thinks I need to be watched?”

“Well uh -“ Happy was at a loss for words. He was never good at dealing with kids, especially not with crying kids. Working for Stark had allowed him the luxury of never having to be near kids, until of course, Peter. 

“He uh - wants me to stand watch at the door to make sure you don’t go anywhere.” A spark of anger flash across the kid’s face. 

“He’s so mean!” Peter cried, ripping the rest of his suit off and hurling it against his wall before collapsing onto his bed in just his boxers. “I hate him.”

Peter kicked the sheets, bending his elbows to cover his face with his arms. Happy heard a small hiccuping sob. Very soft, almost unnoticeable. But Happy noticed everything. That was the head of security’s job. 

But what to do about it... well how to handle crying kids wasn’t his field of expertise. His job was to be a bodyguard, and look out. So that’s what he did. 

He watched as Peter laid trembling against the sheets, just crying and Happy felt so uncomfortable listening to it. Strangely, a part of him wanted to go over and pat the kid’s back. Rub his hand over the kid’s arm and tell him it was going to be okay. But the other part of him thought it would be too weird. Peter most likely wouldn’t accept the comfort, and instead feel more embarrassed that someone like Happy was listening to him cry. Determined that Peter would want to be alone, Happy turned his back to give the kid some privacy. He kept watch at the door like he was supposed to, making sure the spiderling didn’t try and sneak out. 

After ten awkward minutes of Happy stiffly standing at the door, and glancing over his shoulder when he thought Peter wasn’t looking, Happy started tapping his fingers against his leg, whistling lowly to pass the time. 

He wasn’t sure if he was trying to subconsciously soothe Peter by whistling a song, but if that was his goal it was definitely a failure attempt.

As the crying ramped up, Happy cranked his neck over his shoulder to see Peter pulling the comforter over himself, sniveling. He wasn’t sure what was eating at the kid so much. Sure being yelled at by Tony sucked, but this crying was an overdramatic reaction that Peter didn’t normally pull. It almost seemed like crocodile tears, fake. Maybe the kid was just craving attention recently. Or maybe there was something more... Happy wished he could ask about it without it being weird.

After a few more minutes of watching Peter’s pink cheeks turn more splotchy, and his eyes grow more and more red, Happy decided to say something.

“Pete, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Tony did tell you to uh... you know.. put the suit out here and write an essay.” Perhaps that wasn’t the thing to say. He wanted to say something comforting, but everything Happy says comes out wrong.

The boy responded by flinging the covers off, slipping out of bed and shuffling over to one of his dark oak dressers and snatching a pair of PJ pants. Once he slithered into the pants, Peter shuffled over to the place where he threw his suit. He picked it up, but not before giving it a good kick, and carried it over to Happy.

“Here.” He snarled. “You can tell Mr. Stark he can have the suit but I’m still going out as Spider-Man anyway. He can’t stop who I am.” 

Happy contemplated the tear-streaked boy, with the messy brown locks and a bright red nose. 

“You know he still cares about you, right kid?”

“Yeah right,” Peter whispered. Happy was pretty sure he was trying to sound angry, but all he could hear was defeat. 

“He does. Listen, Pete -“

“Mister Parker,” JARVIS interrupted, his British computerized voice coming from the system installed in his bedroom. “I must warn you, sir, as per Protect Spider-Man protocol, that Mr. Stark asked me to alert him if you are not in the room, and you are standing just outside the room limitations.” 

Peter’s eyes grew wide with fear, and he quickly skid back into his bedroom, behind the invisible line. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t tell Mr. Stark.”

“It appears you are no longer violating any rules. There is no need to contact Mr. Stark.”

Sighing in relief, Peter collapsed against his bed for the second time, preparing to snuggle against the comforter again. 

“You even got the AI’s wrapped around your finger.” Happy said. 

“What can I say. When you got it, you got it.” 

Happy chuckled. “Well kid, you’re going to get it, if you don’t start writing.”

Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, Peter shifted over onto his side. 

“I don’t want to Happy. What’s the point. Mr. Stark won’t listen to me, he probably won’t read the essay anyway. Besides, he’s taken enough from me today. He doesn’t need to take my time.” 

Happy wasn’t sure if he could get behind that logic but he didn’t push. He kept hoping Peter would fall asleep and he thought the kid almost did, when he heard the boy’s stomach rumbled. Peter flopped over on the bed and clutched his abdomen. Digging the back of his head in the pillow, he groaned gnawing on his bottom lip as if it were food. 

“Are you hungry?” Happy asked. 

Peter nodded sheepishly, cheeks growing red. “Y-Yeah. I kinda didn’t eat anything all day and my metabolism burns fast so like... It feels like I’ve been going on empty stomach for a couple of days... kinda hurts.”

Happy briefly wondered if hunger was the culprit for Peter’s moody behavior. He turned around again, back to the halls outside and watched the wallpaper, trying to ignore the stomach growls and pitiful whines coming from the boy behind him. 

It wasn’t until Peter started talking to himself, uttering words like, “He hates me. I hate me. I hope I starve to death” that Happy decided to go on a mission and bring back food. 

He tip-toed downstairs, silently praying that Peter wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the room, especially after JARVIS’s threat, and then rounded a corner. 

Stealthily, Happy rushed past the kitchen door without being seen by Tony or Pepper who were still eating their supper. 

“Did you hear something?” Pepper asked, dropping her napkin to her lap, and glancing behind her. 

Well, maybe Happy wasn’t as stealthy as he thought. 

“I swear if he left his room...” Tony muttered before yelling, “JARVIS.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Update on the troublemaker right now.”

“Mr. Parker is laying in his bed sir.”

Quiet and uncomfortable silence followed, as Pepper carefully raised her glass of wine bringing it to her lips.

“Thank you.” Tony mumbled, spending too much time staring at his Prime Rib without looking up. 

In the tense silence, Pepper and Tony could hear the crying radiating from upstairs which made Pepper lose her appetite entirely. There were scraping noises. 

She put down her fork, resting her elbow on the clothed table. 

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I haven’t been this uncomfortable since you slept with that reporter, what was her name? Christina?”

Tony shrugged. “Go check on him.” 

“No. We’re ignoring him right now.” He grabbed his wine glass and started guzzling it. 

“Listen to yourself.” She muttered, “Tony talk to me. What’s really bothering you?”

“The fact that I’m trying to have a peaceful meal with my wife and some kid’s loud crying is disrupting that.”

“Oh well I’m sure Peter’s sorry that his tears are inconveniencing you.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Who’s side are you on?”

“Why are there always sides with you?”

From the kitchen pantry, where Happy was currently squeezed into, he could hear their argument clear as day. But now wasn’t the time to eavesdrop. He needed to get food back to Peter without his boss knowing. 

“It’s pretty clear in this situation that there are two sides. Mine, and the kid’s. Which side are you on?” Tony asked, and Happy hung his head in shame. Because every man should know you don’t ask a woman to choose between you or her children. Come on, Tony. Common sense. 

“I can’t choose a side because I don’t know anything that happened because you won’t talk to me!”

“I told you, he ditched school, went way past the city boundaries I set for him which would be fine if he was facing a life or death situation or fighting some criminal, but no. The kid left the city limits and you wanna know what I found him doing? Laying on hillside, listening to music, and sleeping. What the hell is wrong with him! He hacked into my suit too! I don’t know why he did that, but I do know he swore to me he would never do it again. So I’ll ask you one last time, who’s side are you on.”

Pepper sighed heavily. “Well... what’s Peter’s side?”

“I don’t know. He’s writing about it in his essay right now.”

“Look, Tony. He’s obviously distraught. Why don’t you go upstairs and talk to him. You’ll both feel better.”

Shit, Happy thought as he stuffed another can of Pringles down his shirt. He needed to hurry if he wanted to get this food upstairs. “Let’s see,” Happy whispered to himself scanning the shelves. “Ah!” 

After cramming his pockets with gummy worms and chocolate, Happy searched around for something nutritious. Vegetables were out of the question, Peter would never eat any. His eyes landed on some bread and peanut butter. That would work. After slipping it inconspicuously under his coat, Happy ran from the pantry back into the hallway. Now, the hard part, crossing the kitchen door. He waited for a while, but when the weight of the food was getting too heavy, Happy made a blind run for it. 

Just as Happy thought he was in the clear, he heard two chairs scrapping against the wooden floor. No, no, no. 

Picking up the pace, Happy rushed to his post by the kid’s door sighing in relief as he made it. “Here Peter -“ 

The relief he felt was immediately followed by waves of sheer panic. The bed was empty, no kid in sight, and Tony was right behind him. 

“What’s going on?”

Happy jumped, spinning around only for the gummy worms and chocolate bars to fall to his feet. 

“I wonder how those got there.”

“Happy.” Tony growled. “Is the kid in there.”

“Yeah!” He shouted, reaching back for the door handle and slamming it shut. “He’s in there...sleeping so...”

“Let me see.”

“I - he really shouldn't be disturbed.”

“Mhm, okay. JARVIS, open the door.” 

“Right away sir,” The door cracked open and Happy clammed down on his lip, prepared for the screaming he was sure he would endure. 

“What’s he doing on the ceiling?” Tony asked. 

Happy swung his head towards the room, eyes darting to the ceiling. Sure enough, Peter was attached to it, resting his head at the very top as if he was sleeping. 

“I have no idea.” Happy mumbled, “He’s been doing a lot of strange things lately.”

Tony shook his head, before straightening Happy’s coat. As he was fluffing it, he felt around and nodded when his hands came in contact with bag of bread and a jar of peanut butter. He raised his eyebrows, smirk dancing on his lips. 

“Hungry there?”

Happy nodded. “Yep. I’m starving.”

“You can keep the bread. The rest goes back.”

Sighing in defeat Happy handed over the candy, chips, and peanut butter before resuming his role in front of Peter’s door. After Tony was out of sight, Happy threw the bag of bread at Peter, hoping he would drop like a regular spider. 

“aaay!” Peter cried, shooting a web at Happy’s face in retaliation. He laughed as It attached to the older man’s cheek like silly string. Happy wanted to stay angry, but the kid’s stomach started growling again. 

“Why are you up there?”

Peter shrugged. “Feels a little better when I’m defying gravity.”

“You’re a weird child.”

“I know.” Peter tried to smile, but he was obviously in some discomfort or else he was still upset about Tony scolding him.

“Well come down here. I brought you some food.”

“You mean the bread you threw at me?” 

“You deserved that,” Happy explained waving a pointed finger. “Don’t you ever stick to a ceiling again. I thought you had left the room.”

“I’m not an idiot.” The boy scoffed, “Contrary to what you all think.”

“Okay kid. That’s it. Get down here.”

“Oh great. Now you’re going to yell at me.”

“I’m not going to yell. I just want to talk.”

“You can talk to me from here.”

“I’m not talking to the ceiling. Get down.”

Peter sighed and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was hunched over, hand going back to his stomach. 

“How starved are you.”

“It’s been getting progressively worse throughout the day.” Peter explained, sitting gingerly on the bed. 

Happy retrieved the bag of bread and this time handed Peter a slice. 

“This will have to do.”

“Thank you.” Peter whispered taking a large bite, which basically was the whole piece before snatching the bag from Happy’s hands. 

The bed dipped as Happy placed himself next to the kid. He took a slice of bread out of the bag and chewed, staring at his shiny black shoes. 

All day he’s been wanting to comfort Peter, but he was too scared to do so. But finally he mustered up enough courage to grab Peter’s bicep and pull him close. Awkwardly he threw an arm around the kid’s shoulders. When that wasn’t as bad as he thought, Happy tentatively wrapped his other arm around Peter’s middle. 

The boy’s eyes popped out of his head. “Happy... what are - what are you doing?”

“Shut up,” Happy shot back, squeezing tighter, “I saw it once on TV.”

Peter grinned cheekily, “What? Hugging?”

“Yeah. It’s what people do... to help other people feel less sad.” There was a pause. “Is it working?”

“Yeah,” Peter breathed, “Thanks.” 

After the stiff hug, Peter remained close to Happy, even offered him another slice of bread. It was funny. Happy would have thought Peter would be embarrassed after the display of physical affection. Most teenagers don’t like to be hugged or touched for that matter. Well, at least not by their chauffeur. The more Happy thought about it the more weird it seemed, but here Peter was glued to his side since the hug, trying to soak up as much physical affection as Happy was willing to give. 

“At least you still care about me.” Peter mumbled, and then it clicked. The kid really was still upset about being yelled at. 

“Peter, Tony cares about you.”

“No he doesn’t. Not anymore.”

“He was just upset and hurt. You hurt him when you did what you did.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him.” Peter said getting fired up again. 

“What did you think would happen when you hacked his suit?”

“I was thinking I wanted it to be quiet.” The boy shouted unexpectedly 

“What?” Happy prompted, needing some serious clarification. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him, but he won’t listen.”

“I’ll listen. You tell me. Why did you ditch school and hack the suit?”

“Because my head hurt.”

“Your...head hurt?”

Peter nodded. “It’s like when the spider bite happened...sometimes my senses get dialed to eleven and I can’t - I struggle to see and stuff. It’s hard to explain but basically I just get really really bad headaches and I needed to get away from people. That’s why I went so far away. I wasn’t trying to leave the city, just the noise. And New York is the city that never sleeps, you know? Even if it’s just Queens and so I hacked the suit to get some peace and quiet. It worked too. My headache went away and I was finally feeling good and then Mr. Stark comes and starts screaming at me. And -“ the tears were back “and then he took my suit and grounded me, and sent me to bed, and - and won’t let me have dinner and he hates me!”

Happy was back to hugging the kid again, quick to put an end to the tears. He shed too much of them for one day. “It’s all right. Yeah he really piled on the punishments huh?”

Peter let out a watery snort, “I think the only thing missing is chores. I’m surprised he doesn’t have me wearing a maid’s outfit scrubbing the toilets.”

“Okay Kid, Don’t say stuff like that it’s weird. Have you been watching adult movies again?”

“Well -“

“Look. I’ll talk to Tony. I’m sure once he knows the truth he will happily give the suit back and let you out of your prison cell.”

“He was mean.” Peter pouted. “He wouldn’t listen so I don’t want him to unpunish me. Cause apparently this is what Mr. Stark thinks I deserve.” 

“It’s a lack of communication. He thinks you ditched school for no reason.”

“Well if he would just listen -“

“Kid come on. You know Tony never listens to anyone. Just like he never apologizes.”

Peter scoffed. “Yeah. Mr. Stark hates apologizing. Yells at me all the time for doing it.”

Happy chuckled. “Well, that’s because you apologize for stuff you shouldn’t. Stuff that is never your fault.”

Peter shrugged, looking at the hands in his lap. “Do you think he will listen to me if I try to explain it one last time.”

“I think he should. If he doesn’t, how about this, I’ll scold him.”

The corner of Peter’s lips curled, “Really?”

Happy nodded. “I know he’s Iron Man, but I was a world class boxer.”

“You go Happy!” Peter clapped, slapping his back a few times. 

They both noticed the figure standing in the doorframe then, greeting him with a half-hearty smile. 

Mr. Stark walked in, casually sitting in the chair across from them. The kid’s room was almost a replica of the room where Tony met Peter for the first time. Replaying that memory, Tony never would have dreamed of growing so close to the kid. It was surreal sometimes that he felt like a parent, but he did. Which is why sometimes Tony had to discipline the kid. Even if it seemed cruel. Peter should have never hacked another suit and then he wouldn’t be forced to dish out any punishments.

“All right, let me see the essay.”

Peter groaned, dug his elbows to his knees and gripped his chin with his hands. 

“I don’t have it.”

Tony leaned forward, giving him a stare that could make solider’s quake in their boots. “This whole teenage defiance thing is getting real old, real fast. I’m tired of playing this game, kid.”

“Sorry to be so exhausting.” 

Happy shook his head. These two could go on all day fighting one another. They were both stubborn. Two hot-heads. One enthusiastic kid who was trying to prove himself and getting pissed off when no one would listen to him, and one old mentor who has seen it all, and lived it all before. They both cared, but they were always seeing things from different perspectives. It’s what usually made them a great team on the field, but a horrible team when they got into personal disputes.

“Tony, the kid has something he wants to say. You need to hear his side of things.” Happy said.

“What’s it matter?” Peter asked, “He’s not going to listen to a word I say.” Tony narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Well I was supposed to read about it in an essay, but since you can’t follow directions why don’t you say it out loud. Go ahead. This should be interesting.” There was a snap in his voice. An edge that told Peter he was getting close to the end of his patience, but Peter felt the same way with him.

“I’m listening.” Tony added. 

For the first time, Peter noticed the twitching of Mr. Stark’s fingers, the uneasy grip he had on his wrist, and the deep lines on his forehead. 

Peter thought that maybe if he spilled, Mr. Stark might feel better too. So instead of keeping up his anger, he relented. This was his chance to speak, so he might as well take it.

“I didn’t feel well. You know how I told you my senses sometimes get cranked up to like eleven? Well that happened at school today, cause it happens sometimes, and I felt so much pain in my head that I thought it was going to fall off. All I knew was I had to get out, but I was so sick that I couldn’t even see straight. Have you ever had a really bad migraine? Well it’s like that, only worse. So, um, I hacked the suit. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I needed to make adjustments so I could see where I was going when I left. I had to get away from people cause it was too much. And so that’s how I got to whatever state I was in, and that’s why I was sleeping. But...” Peter sighed and his long winded speech. “I am sorry for hacking the suit. I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to feel better.” Peter gulped back some guilt waiting anxiously for Mr. Stark’s response.

Tony gripped the edges of the chair and fixed Peter with a stare. “You...” 

A long pause followed, one that told Peter that Mr. Stark was thinking things through. He got up, and the bed dipped with Tony’s weight as he sat down next to him. Reaching out, Tony brushed the hair off his forehead and then rested his hand on the kid’s back. 

“I’m sorry, Pete.” The words startled Happy more than they probably should have. He watched in awe as Tony rubbed the kid’s back. “I guess I really should have listened to you, but in my defense you really looked like you were just chilling on a hillside, listening to music and taking a nap.”

“Mr. Stark -“

“Okay, so I made another mistake, what’s new. Just be thankful you’re not Pepper. That woman is a saint for giving me more than fifteen chances in the first year of our dating life.”

“ - I’m sorry.”

Tony glanced down at the exhausted kid, with red-rimmed eyes and he shook his head. “No kid. There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. Tell him, Happy.”

“Oh I did.” Happy responded, standing with a stretch. His black suit raised slightly before falling back into place. “Now can I get him candy?”

“Yeah. Have Pep fix him a plate, and don’t forget the gummy worms.”

“Are you sure I can eat now?” Peter asked. 

Tony sighed, feeling like a monster. “C’mon, you know I hate fighting with you. Don’t hold this against me.”

Peter wouldn’t. He was just glad to have finally been heard, even if it took a little help from Happy. Someday Mr. Stark would learn to listen and to trust him. But listening to people was hard for Mr. Stark. 

Peter felt a thumb wipe away another wet smudge on his cheek. 

“Did I make you cry? Please tell me you were crying from the headaches.” Tony asked as he laid back against the bed, propping his head on a pillow. He slipped his shoes off, letting them fall to the floor. 

Shrugging, Peter sank down in the bed and used Tony’s stomach as a pillow. 

“My headache was gone for a while.”

It wasn’t the answer Tony wanted to hear, but he swallowed it anyways, promising to listen to Peter from now on and to make up for this mistake he was going to do something amazing. He adjusted his grip on the kid’s shoulders and rested his hand on Peter’s messy curls, occasionally running his fingers through it until finally Peter drifted off with no headache to wake him up. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed. My Birthday is coming up. Really fun fact, my Birthday is one day after Tom’s! :) So this Tuesday I’ll be having some Apple Pie al la mode to celebrate 🥳


End file.
